hmsports

Just a reminder NOT to ever weld on galvanized steel. The fumes it gives off are very toxic and can kill.

I've been blessed that I know a super honest, thoughtful and excellent mechanic near St. Louis. He is one of those guys that was tired of working for someone else who was a sheister so he started his own shop. When my wife's Exploder (oh, sorry, Explorer) needed A/C work, the Ford dealer told me $2,300 to replace everything because something blew up and ruined the whole system. He was able to get me going again, and convert things to the new ozone-safe coolant for under $400! I've also heard him on the phone with customers and he is always straight with them and is more concerned with getting things done right, the first time, than getting them done fast - at a fair price too - he doesn't price gouge. I drive an hour to bring things to him.

I have very detailed plans that I purchased from Lindsay's Technical Books . The author explains all pertinent information about forces etc. Also tells you how to use heavy duty steel caster wheels for part of it. They also have other books that explain how to build a metal lathe, milling machine and other tools VERY innexpensively. They even have books on how to build a steam locomotive!

I still have it. It does have the one crack and some blemishes. Also it needs a good cleaning.

Maybe not a house mortgage, but at least a double wide's for the Konis :classic:. I've found that the Tokikos go soft quickly. The Konis are good for the money because they are double adjustable and they can be rebuilt.

All I've used on my shortened struts were Tokiko Illuminas (or whatever the model was). They get soft quick when racing ITS -- less than one season (or about 5 race weekends). I have been trying to get information from Koni about their inserts and if my struts need to be shortened or not. Can't quite get a straight answer. One thing is to make sure you have the struts you plan to use BEFORE you shorten the struts. You need them to get exact measurements of how much to cut out of the strut.

1. Replace left rear wheel cylinder and replace shoes 2. Put on master cylinder resevoirs and bleed brakes 3. Replace slave cylinder, hose and bleed 4. Install electric fuel pump 5. Try to start it 6. Replace iginition switch 7. Get all the lights working 8. Fanagle an emission sticker 9. Drive and have fun

They will curl under quite a bit and the front will most likely bottom out on a good bump. You can help this by adding some aluminum bracing behind. There are a couple of other threads that explain this technique.

Not cheap to buy a good setup. You can simply get the control arm eccentric bushings to help get one degree extra negative. You can also slot the three bolt holes on top of the strut tower which will allow you to move the upper strut in for a little more negative -- however, the rubber isolator on the top of the springs usually gets in the way so you can't get too much.

Here's some very poor pictures (I need a new camera bad) of the one I've used for the last eight years. I purchased it from MSA. Also included are the dimensions I pulled off it. The 25x20mm round welded-on parts are threaded to accept the long bolts that hold the front of the R180 diff on. The other bolt's head is welded on and is used to mount the cross member to.

I have four light buckets for sale. Three are right side and one left side. The red one has some bubbly surface rust as indicated. The others just have some chips in the paint. $20 each or $15 for the rusted red one.

I've got a center console from my 72 for sale. $25 takes it. Has one crack between the sliding ash tray and the rear part of the slot for the choke cable. There are a few small surface scratches in the plastic and the shift boot is ripped up. Sorry for the poor picture:

I've also contemplated a set of those. The advantages: Much finer and easier adjustment of toe and camber because of the spherical ball joints. Also, there would be no flex from any bushings. I'm not sure of any weight savings, if anything, they might weight a bit more. The price is what has keep me from buying any. I have started working on some plans to build my own.

Found this one that may be a good starting point for something that looks professional :classic: Custom Fuse Blocks

I've done it with some aftermarket fuse blocks from a local parts store. Granted it was for my race car but wasn't difficult to do. There are several companies that you can get new generic fuse blocks from (costly) but I'm sure you could poke around a local salvage yard and see what looks close.

It sounds like a good experiment to test some temp with both the IR and probe type to see how far off the IR might be. One of the drawbacks of the IR on accuracy is you can't be perfectly sure where the reading is being performed. If you aim the gun off a bit you might get a reading from something close. On tires, at least for checking camber and pressure settings, the IR would perform just fine, IMHO. Now, if you have $300 and a quick pit crew, you might want to get one of the recording probe style that will keep track of all 12 temps automatically for recall later. In fact, some of them record multiple sessions.

If you are looking for exact perfectly repeatable readings then the IR pyrometer probably isn't what you want. For the racing most of us will be doing, the IR pyrometer works quite well. As 2Many has mentioned, what you are looking for are three measurements across the face of the tire. Ideally, the two outside temps should be the same and the inside temp should be about 10 degree hotter. Tires cool down pretty quickly. The time it takes you to drive from the track, down pit-in and stop at your hot-pit spot can effect temps. Pyrometers that require you to physically touch the tire take longer to get a reading. This extra time can lead to a cool down. Again, we aren't INDY teams and we don't need to be that precise, but getting a quicker measurement is best. The IR pyrometers gives those quicker readings. I've used both types and for the last four years have used the IR exclusively -- as well as my friends who race formula cars. My vote is IR.

I tried to rebuild my 71's master cylinder and ended up buying a '72 and swapping my lines. I couldn't get the rear shaft out of the cylinder. Worked on it for quite a long time -- over several days. Here's the picture of the line swap... I used the original lines, just swapped them and carefully adjusted their fit by hand.

Great advice 2Many! I've always ran about -2.5 to -3 up front and -1.5 to -2 in the rear. My rear toe is always dead on but I like to run a little toe out (1/8") sometimes on tighter tracks to help with turn in, but usually run a RCH of toe in most times. The infrared pyrometers are getting pretty inexpensive now - less than $100. Go fast, have fun.

I didn't use the optional mounting kit. Since my car was gutted and I wanted to hard mount my seat, I simply took some heavy 1x3/8 bar stock and bolted two lengths to the seat bottom (front to back). I then took two 1" square tubes and welded them across the floor from the inside rocker to the transmission tunnel. I welded bolts to these square tubes with the threaded portion facing upward to bolt the bar stock on the seats to. Hope that made sense. Now, this is NOT the safest way to do it. What should be done is to use 1" round tube to create a cradle for the seat. This should all be welded to the cage. What this does during a wreck is to allow the seat to shift if the cage moves. By having things hooked to the floor, the seat could in essence be pulled out from below the car in an extremely violent wreck. Or in a less violent wreck, the cage would shift and the seat would not, which could crush the driver with the cage.

A roll hoop is the perfect way to go. Some only come with a diagonal bar. It may be best if you can buy one without a horizontal bar and have someone custom fab one in at the correct height with the seat installed and you sitting in it.

I have use a Corbeau Forza seat for the last three years and find it to be pretty comfortable. The only thing I have problems with is that I'm tall and the support at the front of the seat that bumps up hits me in the wrong spot. Other than that it holds you in pretty well even on the fast banks at Gateway. For the belts, the two heavy eye bolts fit into the original holes in the floor where the stock seat belts bolt. The sub-marine or ball-buster needs to have a hole drilled in the floor. Make sure to use the backing plates for the bolt so it doesn't pull through the thin floor metal. The shoulder belts are best attached to a horizontal bar behind the driver's shoulders. Make sure to follow the installation instructions VERY carefully as the angles for the lap belts and shoulder harness attachments are critical to help avoid spinal injuries. Racer Wholesale has the guaranteed lowest prices on harnesses. I have used the latch type and moved up to the twist-lock style. The latch type are difficult to get all five held in place and them latch them in. The twist lock is much easier -- you can click each belt in one at a time. Best of luck. Rick

You can get some good information from Racer Wholesale in Georgia -- or call them at 800.397.7811. They guarantee the lowest prices and should be able to tell you the best harness to get that you could use with a stock seat. The mounting kits for the lap belt screw into the stock holes where your OEM belts bolt. For the shoulder harness, you will probably have to drill some holes and use their backing plate mount to bolt them on. Be VERY careful at reading the directions when installing the shoulder harness. There are specific angles that you need to be aware of so you don't end up getting a compression injury to your spine in the case of an accident. You may need to fashion some type of mounting bar that goes behind the seat at the level of your shoulders.